Divine Heritage: Only I Can Judge The gods-Chapter 41: Bad Luck, or a Trap?

[You have Slain an Immoral Laughing Masquerade]

[You have Slain an Immoral Laughing Masquerade]

[You have Slain an Immoral Laughing Masquerade]

Ark was breathing heavily surrounded by multiple corpses of beasts that were unnaturally tall.

He rested his back on a tree to catch his breath for a moment but just as he did the branches creaked and shot forward, locking around him in a massive bear hug.

The trunk parted and rows of nasty teeth appeared behind him, ready to close themselves around his butt.

Ark squirmed in its grips, wiggling to set himself free, but he was locked in place. He heard something that sounded like laughter and he was seconds away from getting a new form of disability.

He tossed his axe backward, the weapon curving in the air and embedding itself in the trunk of a tree.

Ark let out a roar as he rose to his feet, lifting the large tree monster into the air, and then he jumped, right into the weapon, twisting his body to the side and sending the tree into the sharpened edge of the axe.

The forest crawler immediately let go of him as its branches fell lifeless.

Ark shoved the beast to the side and retrieved his axe from the tree.

’Leaning into a tree... That is fourth grade level dumb.’ Ark thought as he continued onward.

So far the climb to the top had not exactly been easy but at the same time, it wasn’t too dangerous either.

Curse bearers were a valuable resource so it made sense that the organizers had brought the lowest rank beasts.

Immoral rank...

The funny thing was that just one of these beasts could tear through tens of regular humans with ease.

Ark decided to walk a little to regain his energy. He dismissed his axe as he began his trek, the axe was so heavy that swinging it took far more out of him than he could have expected, carrying it around would have been a pain.

He moved for a couple of hours but strangely, the higher he climbed the fewer beasts he saw.

Only the most vicious among the lower rank beasts were around this area, each one more deadly than the last.

By now, they are in the depth of the night, with sunrise not too far off. He had been running for some time before finally slowing down to a fast walk once more.

Ark was covered in blood, dirt and a few injuries he had gotten from the beasts. His entire shirt was drenched in sweat and his jacket at this point felt like a load.

But although practically useless, it was the only protection he had against the beasts so he decided to keep it on.

’This path...’

It made no sense.

Ark considered himself well above the average curse bearer, that was why this current situation was confusing.

It was almost sunrise and yet, he had not made it to the top of the mountain because there were far too many powerful monsters on his path.

’Is it the same for others? Or are they gathering here for a reason?’

If the exams were this difficult then forget about finishing first, many of them would fail. At least more than half of the curse bearers.

Somehow Ark felt like he had been dealt a bad hand, it was either he was just far too unlucky...

Or it was a trap.

Just then, something sprang at him from a branch, tearing through the sky like a missile and charging straight at his face.

Ark’s response was far too slow, his axe was still materialising when the beast cut past him, tearing through his shoulder with blunt force and causing his body to rock to the side, landing on the cold dirt.

He quickly recovered, pulling his axe in front of him just as the jaws of a creature bared down on him, biting into the shaft.

The head right in front of him, baring its jaws at Ark’s face was something that resembled a fiendish jaguar, but its body was different, it was disgusting...

It had a large slimy serpentine body with diamond pattern scales that was slowly wrapping itself around him with devastating force.

Ark tried to pull it away but he was too busy trying to keep the creature’s teeth away.

It could not yet wrap itself fully around his body because he was pressed against the ground, but his legs were fair game...

Ark felt the muscles of his legs tense as the creature’s tail wrapped around it, squeezing it with crushing force.

He gritted his teeth, enduring the pain as he tried to wrestle with the beast.

Fetid saliva dripped out of its mouth as it anticipated its next meal. Ark elbowed its neck and the beast recoiled slightly, choking on something.

The object then emerged from its throat, sliding down the shaft of the axe and falling against Ark’s face.

With it came an audio odour of bile and intestinal juices, a pungent offensive odour.

But that was not the worst part—

Ark recoiled in horror as his eyes locked on the object not too far from his face.

It was a hand, a human hand.

Someone had died.

He sucked in a breath and he pushed the creature backward, momentarily dislodging its head from his axe, the space was still too small for him to strike so instead, he let go of the axe and grabbed onto the head of the beast.

And then he brought it again his own, in one massive headbutt.

The creature’s hold on him loosened, allowing Ark to leap backward, grabbing his axe on the way.

Now with enough breathing room, the disgusting beast curled its body around itself and then like a spring it launched itself once more like a javelin, but what met it was the sharp edge of the axe.

Whoosh!

Ark swung the axe in a circular arc, cleaving the beats from the head down with its own momentum.

[You have Slain an Immoral Pouncing Cocetus]

He let out a breath as he wiped his face with his jacket, not too far from him were what must have been the remains of the curse bearers that had first fought the beast.

Ark walked over to it and stared down, all that was left was a torn piece of their armour, covered in blood.

A sad outcome for someone who had a bright future ahead of them. The sight of the entire thing made Ark’s blood boil, but there was nothing he could do.

Although they were probably one of the people who mocked him, they were human, no one deserved to die in such a pitiful way.

Rotting in the belly of a monster...

It would have been different if he arrived earlier but now it was too late.

Ark turned, ready to leave when the ground just below the remains exploded, blinding Ark with a cloud of dust.

He tried to jump backwards to evade whatever was coming but it was already too late.

An azure blue scorpion tail sprung out of the cloud and plunged right into his stomach.

Ark stumbled back as venom flooded his bloodstream, coursing through every part of his body with a frightening speed.

He coughed out blood and fell to a knee, his vision slowly turning hazy as he watched the creature that towered above him.

A blue tailed manticore.

A profane class beast, one rank above immoral.

A beast that was far above his class.